According to Ballotpedia’s monthly federal judicial vacancy count, the U.S. Senate has confirmed 15 of President Donald Trump’s (R) nominees to Article III federal judicial seats since April 25, 2019. Article III judges are those judges who serve on courts authorized by Article III of the Constitution, which created and enumerated the powers of the judiciary. The Senate confirmed 11 nominees to U.S. District Courts and four nominees to U.S. Circuit Courts. The Senate has confirmed 112 of President Trump’s judicial nominees—69 district court judges, 41 appeals court judges, and two Supreme Court justices—since January 2017.
President Trump also announced six new federal judicial nominations since April 25. The president has announced 186 Article III judicial nominations since taking office on January 20, 2017. The president named 69 judicial nominees in 2017 and 92 in 2018.
Since Ballotpedia’s April 2019 judicial vacancy count, four judges vacated their active statuses, creating life-term judicial vacancies. As Article III positions, these vacancies must be filled by a nomination from the president. Nominations are subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.
There are 126 vacancies out of 870 Article III judicial positions. Including the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the United States territorial courts, 137 of 890 active federal judicial positions are vacant. A vacancy occurs when a judge passes away, resigns, retires, or takes senior status. Senior status is a classification for federal judges at all levels who are semi-retired. Senior judges continue to serve on federal courts while hearing a reduced number of cases.
Additional reading:
https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_federal_courts
https://ballotpedia.org/Current_federal_judicial_vacancies
https://ballotpedia.org/Judicial_vacancies_during_Trump%27s_first_term
https://ballotpedia.org/Federal_judges_nominated_by_Donald_Trump
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